The Noblest of Fights
by Nhaz
Summary: As life is restored to Cybertron, Megatron wonders if he could find a place for himself in this new world. TFP AU after Predacons Rising.


He zoomed past Cybertron's moons in his mad flight. That was all he had been doing for a while now, flying through the galaxy with his new superluminal drive in a vain attempt to chase off the memories of his aeon-long life as a tyrant. Yet, even as Unicron was banished from his head, the rapid replaying of all the content in his memory banks had never stopped. Whereas he never had bothered to recall any of them before, he now knew by spark when, where, how and to whom he inflicted every vile act. Ripping spark chambers open, tearing heads off, smashing helms with his bare fists, burning holes in bodies with his fusion cannon, consuming raw sparks, dismembering bots alive. The pain in his victims' optics, once so exhilarating, was now gnawing at his spark, become his constant companion.

He deserved every bit of it, he knew. And though he had vowed to never return there, he now longed to see Kaon again. Perhaps he could gain a moment of solace by visiting the plase where he had first renounced the name of D-16 and taken that of a Prime.

He circled the now desolate arena, landing in the very center, the same spot where he had beheaded that Insecticon and renamed himself yet again, to not be confused with The Fallen Prime. Even though later he had reached his former namesake in his depravity, if not surpassed him.

Some sound pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked around, not particularly eager to meet anyone at the moment.

"Megatron", a faint voice was calling.

He looked again, but saw no one. No Autobot patrols, no Predacons, no vengeful enemy come to seek a reckoning.

"Megatron!", the voice came again, this time loud enough to be of recognizable timbre.

It was impossible. The owner of this voice was now one with the Allspark. Megatron had, albeit from a distance, seen Optimus Prime plunge into the Well of All Sparks, and then all the sparks in question spring forth.

"Who is calling?", he growled. "Show yourself."

What he saw only confirmed his suspicions that he had finally gone mad. Before him stood Optimus, not grey as gunmetal, but in the same vibrant read and blue he always wore on his plating.

"That cannot be! You are not Optimus Prime."

"I am", the holographic being affirmed in the ever so infuriatingly calm tone he was used to hearing from his friend-turned-enemy, "and yet I am not."

Bristling, Megatron unsheathed his blades - Unicron had taken away his trusty fusion cannon, but had installed a replica of his sword on his other hand - and swung at the figure with a roar. It wasn't clear to him why. Part of him still hated the Prime, but another still held a grudging respect for him. And yet another, one he usually kept locked deep within his spark, wanted to tear this impostor to scrap for daring to impersonate his departed friend.

His blows were savage as always and would have slashed any Cybertronian's armor, yet his adversary stood unharmed and, what was worse, unshaken. The whole debacle reminded Megatron, very unpleasantly at that, of his encounter with Bumblebee in his own dream, only now he would not be so eager to deny believing in spirits. After all, given his own resurrection by the power of Unicron, perhaps he needed to adapt his beliefs to this new reality.

The entity beckoned him and walked toward the arena's entrance and a door ablaze with blue markings. Megatron knew the place all too well, having had a statue erected just on top of it, which now lay demolished. But never had he suspected that this was no mere mural, but a door. He followed Optimus - or whoever that was - into a tunnel, largely indifferent whether or not he was being led into a trap.

The floor, not ghostly at all, began shaking and Megatron realized that they were sinking - falling deeper and deeper beneath the planet's surface. Unlike him, the other had no trouble keeping himself steady, despite not having engaged his trusters. Not long after, the platform they were standing on stopped slowly, and a gate in front of them opened to reveal a causeway which led to - Megatron could scarcely believe it - an enormous sphere of light.

"Welcome, Megatron, to my innermost sanctum."

Optimus, now looking strangely translucent, gestured for him to go forward, and Megatron did so, stunned at the realization that he was looking at the Allspark itself.

"I took on the appearance of your friend, for I have no physical form you could comprehend", the being explained as it walked beside him, gradually taking on a translucent, holographic appearance, with energon lines appearing over his superstructure. "I am Primus, and while Optimus has, in joining with the Allspark, merged with me, I am not merely him."

First Unicron, now Primus. Megatron would perhaps feel elated if he were not so cynical a mech.

"I have not summoned you here without a purpose."

Megatron sighed.

"To execute me? Unicron was kind enough to share that I would not be able to become one with the Allspark, even if I'm standing before it right now."

To his horror, the hologram nodded.

"And he was correct. I cannot accept your spark while it remains poisoned."

"Why not simply let me roam deep space then?"

"You are welcome to do so", Primus shrugged, "but before that, let me offer you a choice."

"Why would you?", the Decepticon barely managed to stop himself from channeling his befuddlement into a rage, as he was used to. "Why would you let me function? Me, the scourge of Cybertron, the one who ravaged this planet?"

"Once, a long time ago, you had vision, my friend" It was a word Megatron had last heard spoken his way from Optimus, when he had led him to believe he was still Orion. "You wanted to change Cybertron and make it into a better place. I am granting you the chance to try to do so now."

"If you are indeed Primus, then why not simply enforce your will and have me do your bidding? Why not command me outright?"

"I am aware that this is the way you are used to. The way of Unicron. While I am the progenitor of all Cybertronians, I do not seek to lord over you - but simply to offer you my guidance."

"Surely I cannot expect that this new lease on life you propose will grant me the adoration of Cybertron's denizens?" Megatron tried to keep his composure, but his vocal processor couldn't stop the bitterness from creeping into his words. "Those whose Energon is not on my hands, that is."

"No. You will still be recognized and judged as Megatron, albeit with a changed form."

The former warlord, once known far and wide for his deception, knew even as the thought formed inside his processor that his bargaining posture was highly dubious, but even then he had to try.

"Will my current body not be of use to help rebuild Cybertron?", he shifted his frame, flexing his strong arms.

He felt that the being before him was right now more Optimus than Primus, only the twinkling of his optics on the otherwise serious face letting him know that neither Primus, nor Prime were being fooled by it.

"You will need to learn that brute strength is far from the only way to affect your environment", the apparition said as it hovered and melted into the Allspark, giving him an unambiguous sign that negotiations were over. "I will thus provide you with a new body which will be better suited to thus task. Only then can you truly transform - and transcend - into a true reflection of your spark."

His spark was chaos and destruction, Megatron had always thought. No, perhaps not always, he remembered as he found himself bowing his head in reverence, there was a time when he really dreamed of a better Cybertron. A better future. And in the persence of his very creator, whose demise he had nearly caused, the former Emperor of Destruction found a glimmer of hope that he could discover his spark again.

"I...", his voice was a low murmur, "I accept your terms."

He stepped forward to the very edge of the platform, gazing at the Allspark, just as he had once stood before Unicron's Anti-Spark in Earth's core. Springing forth from the great light, energon started to fill the conduits on the walls around him, at first only shimmering faintly, then, as it ignited patterns he had never imagined in the walls around him, the ceiling above him and the floor beneath his feet, shining and drawing complex figures upon his plating, shining brightly in all colors. He felt his chassis tense, the dark energon remnants in his veins being purged away, and before his optics the energon danced, projecting his wireframe, then editing it bit by bit.

"The great transformation awaits, Megatron", he heard Optimus's soothing voice engulf him together with the light. "Prepare to be… reformatted."

* * *

 **A/N: This is mostly an experiment. I wanted to try how many lines with canon references I could sneak in without sounding ridiculous. However, I might decide to continue this as an AU after Transformers Prime: Predacons Rising, since I don't quite like the plot of Robots in Disguise, especially Megatron's absence.**


End file.
